Four Times Ben and Leslie Use The Box
by Kb215
Summary: Four scenes revolving around Ben and Leslie's box.


**Hey guys! A little (or a lot) of fluff to start off your week! As always, you're reviews are cherished! =)**

* * *

"Okay, so what did she say?" Leslie asked as she sat her bag down by the kitchen island and moved around Ben to get two wine glasses out of the cabinet.

"She said she's not running anymore," Ben repeated for what had to have been the hundredth time in the past thirty minutes. "She's dropping out tomorrow."

"But why?" Leslie asked as she poured two glasses. "What happened?"

Ben shrugged as his wife pushed a glass toward him. "She wouldn't say. She's been in her room ever since soccer practice."

"What about Joe? Did you try talking to him?" Leslie asked, desperately trying to figure out what had caused her daughter to change her mind.

Ben smiled as he pulled the pan of cookies from the oven and playfully swatted Leslie's hand away as she tried to snatch one off the tray, "All Joe could tell me was that Max ate a full bottle of glue during art today."

Leslie smiled imagining her small son recounting the tale. "Well, should we talk to her?" she asked as she took the final swig from her glass and set it on the counter with a clink.

Ben finished putting the last cookie on a plate and followed Leslie up the stairs and down the hallway.

They stopped just outside Madeline's door, which she had been decorated with pictures of famous women politicians and a sign written to keep her little brother out. Leslie gently tapped on the wood, "Hey, sweetie," Leslie cooed. "Can we come in?"

"Yeah," came a sheepish reply. The door creaked open as Ben and Leslie stepped inside and found the nine-year old sitting at her desk with her math book in front of her. "Hey, sweetie," Leslie said as she placed a kissed on her forehead. "Homework?"

Maddie nodded without lifting her eyes from the book. Ben placed the plate of cookies on the corner of her desk and perched himself on the edge of her bed. "Do you want to tell us about today?" Leslie asked.

Maddie shook her head no as her blonde pigtails bounced from side to side. "You don't want to tell us what happened at all?" Leslie asked again, her voice pleading with her daughter to give her some information.

"Nothing happened," Maddie shrugged as she continued to work on her math problem.

Ben noticed the hurt look playing on Leslie's face and put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. It was unlike their daughter to keep information from either of them, but Leslie knew this was a sensitive subject, and she was afraid her daughter was feeling pressure because her position. She looked to Ben and raised her eyebrows, trying to communicate that maybe he should handle this.

As if on cue, the sounds of Joe calling for Leslie filled the room. "I'll be right back," Leslie said as she patted her husband on the knee and kissed the top of her daughter's head before going to tend to her five-year old's needs.

"What are you working on?" Ben asked as he stretched his neck to look at his daughter's textbook.

"Just fractions," Madeline answered as she moved her pencil over the paper.

"You want to take a break for a minute?" he asked and patted the spot on the bed next to him.

His daughter nodded and slowly put down the pencil as she pushed herself up on the bed and snuggled into her dad's side.

Ben let her lay there for a minute, cherishing those moments when his daughter would still let him put his arm around her shoulders and hug her to himself. There were times when it amazed him just how much she was like Leslie, and this was no exception. Her bright, blonde hair, her petite frame, and that hopeful glint in her eyes, all of those were passed down from his wife. But there was one more thing too that Ben noticed was Leslie's as well - just a hint of insecurity that played on the corners of her mouth and the whopping helping of pride that wouldn't let her admit it.

"Have I ever told you about the first term your mom ran for mayor?" Ben asked as he wrapped his arm tighter around his daughter's shoulder.

"Yeah," Maddie said as she rested her head against his arm. "Mom got all her supporters attacked by raccoons."

"Well that's part of the story," Ben laughed, remembering the picnic that they held for Leslie's supporters at Ramset Park and how their good intentions had attracted every raccoon in a twenty-mile radius. "But have you ever heard about how your mom decided to run?"

His daughter shook her head no, and Ben took his cue. "A few years earlier, your mom was put up for a recall vote for her position on City Council. She fought and she fought, but she lost in the end. She wasn't sure if she should run for mayor. She was scared the people wouldn't like her even though she had done so many great things for Pawnee."

"Mom was scared?" Madeline asked, shocked that her mom would be scared of anything.

Ben nodded as he continued. "She was so afraid she would lose. She came home from work one day and told me she had decided not to run and that she didn't want to be mayor."

"But she really did want to, right?" his daughter asked, now entranced by his story.

"Oh yeah. Every night in her sleep, she'd practice making speeches, and I'd wake up in the morning to post it notes around the room of all her ideas for what she could do to improve Pawnee."

"So what changed her mind?"

"Not what, but who," Leslie replied as she reentered the room with a small, leather box in her hands. She paused for a brief moment at the door to take in the sight of her daughter and husband, both sitting with their backs against the wall and feet dangling from the side of the bed. She continued to walk the length of the room and perched herself on the other side of her daughter.

"Who?" Maddie asked.

"You," Leslie answered. "You were just two, but every time I looked at you, it reminded me of why I was fighting for Pawnee to be a great town and the best home for you. Your father knew that, and he knew I just needed a little push. So he sent you in one night with this box."

"That's the box from your office," Maddie observed remembering that it was usually perched on the corner of her desk downtown.

"Yeah," Leslie said. "Your father first gave me this box when I was running for city council. It had a pin that said Knope 2012. When you brought it to me, there was a new pin there. Mayor Knope 2018. It just reminded me that I wasn't in it alone, that I had some great teammates who were going to love me whether I won or lost and who reminded me that trying and losing was better than never trying at all."

"So you ran?"

Leslie looked over to Ben and smiled a grin of gratitude. "Yeah, I ran, and I fought, and I knew I had you and your dad behind me every step of the way. Two people who would love me whether I won or lost."

Maddie took a deep breath and looked down at her feet. "I don't know if I can win. Jordan and Nathan are a lot more popular than I am."

Leslie put a reassuring hand on her daughter's leg. "Do you want to run?"

Maddie nodded timidly. "Yeah," she answered. "I know if they just gave me a chance that I could make our school a better place."

Leslie placed a kiss on the top of her daughter's head. "Then here," she said as she placed the box into her hands.

"What is it?" Maddie asked as looked up to her mom who nodded assuredly. She opened the small box to reveal a new button inside. This one read "Knope-Wyatt Student Council 2025."

Ben smiled at his wife as he gently rubbed her arm with his thumb. "Just a reminder," he said, "that you have some great teammates who are going to love you know matter what."

* * *

Leslie drummed her thumb nervously against her thigh as she stared, wide-awake, at the ceiling. Even with his back turned to her, she could hear Ben's steady breathing, and if that wasn't enough, the slight snore that escaped his mouth occasionally was all the proof she needed to know he was asleep.

She continued to will her eyes open, occasionally pinching her arm, or standing up to walk a lap around the house before crawling back into bed. Around 1:30, she tried to do a little bit of work. _If I'm not going to sleep, I might as well be productive, __she thought._But as she sat on the couch in the living room, her eyes kept wandering from her laptop to the bookcase. Eventually, she had given up, gone over to the bookcase and removed the box that she had carefully tucked behind her favorite autobiography on Margaret Thatcher two days ago. The box felt heavy in her hands, the same way it had when Ben handed it to her to reveal her Knope 2012 button, essentially giving her permission to break up with him so she could run for city council. It didn't feel quite as weighted as it had when she carefully placed the Washington Monument figurine inside it, giving Ben his turn to chase his dream. She closed her eyes and ran her hand over the worn leather exterior, recalling the way it had made her feel dizzy and flying when Ben produced it from behind his back, dropping to one knee, asking her to be his wife.

She carried it carefully back to bed, tucking it quietly underneath her pillow like she imagined a tooth fairy would. Ben never moved.

She could feel it now, still securely underneath her head, which was appropriate, as she couldn't seem to take her mind off of it.

She laid motionless, staring at the ceiling, trying to name the past mayors of Pawnee in alphabetical order to keep herself awake.

Leslie never realized she talked in her sleep until she and Ben started dated. Since that time, Ben awoke at least one morning a week recounting some tale of Leslie's latest ramblings, which was exactly why Leslie hadn't slept in the past two days, unless she counted the brief naps she was able to catch at her desk behind the safety of her locked office door. No, she couldn't sleep. She'd spill the news for sure.

Which left her with one other option, just do it now. She wasn't prepared, and hadn't a clue how to approach it, but it was either that, or face her chamber meeting tomorrow with no sleep, and that last time that happened, she ended up referring to Councilman Milton as Orville Redenbacher. Now seemed to be the best choice.

"Ben," she whispered still staring at the ceiling. She listened quietly as another snore escaped his lips. He didn't stir.

"Ben," she said again, louder this time as she nudged his shoulder.

"Huh?" Ben asked as he jolted from his side to his back. "What? What's wrong?"

Leslie smiled at her husband as the moon streaming in through their window illuminated Ben's untamed hair. "Nothing," Leslie said as she buried her head in his chest and let him wrap his arms around her. "Were you asleep?" She asked innocently, even though she was well aware of the answer.

"Like 99.9% of the population of Pawnee," he replied. "I was."

"Hmm," she hummed into his chest. "You know what it does to me when you talk percentages."

"Is that what this is?" he asked, rubbing small circles on her back. "A 3:00 a.m. booty call?"

"Only if you want it to be," Leslie smiled into his chest.

"Why are you awake?" he asked her. "Did you have late night waffles again?"

"No," Leslie answered feeling her pulse quicken. "I just have something on my mind."

"Work?" Ben asked.

"Not quiet," Leslie answered, willing her voice not to shake and hoping that Ben couldn't feel her heart practically jumping through her chest. "I have something for you."

"You woke me up at 3:00 to give me a gift? Steamroller," he teased.

"Sorry," Leslie apologized, so wrapped up in her own excitement and anxiety that she couldn't read Ben's sarcasm. "I just…you know I talk in my sleep. I'm an open book, and I didn't want to ruin your surprise, so I couldn't go to sleep, so I've been up all night for the past two nights, but I really want to go to sleep, just for a little bit because I have big day tomorrow, so I thought I could just maybe wake you up really quick, give you your present, and then go to sleep for a few hours before I have to argue for the children's health initiative tomorrow."

Ben wasn't nearly awake enough to follow his wife's rant, so he just nodded and answered, "Of course."

Leslie sat up and switched on the lamp on her bedside table. "Sorry," she said when Ben winced as the light flooded the room.

He shook his head to dismiss her apology as he adjusted his pillows so he was sitting up against their headrest. "Is everything alright?" he asked as he began to pick up on her signs of anxiety.

"Yeah, no, yeah, everything's great. Everything's peachy. We're all good," Leslie lied, fairly certain that she was going to throw up or pass out or do some combination of the two.

"Right," Ben replied, now knowing full well that something was going on.

"Okay," Leslie said, seeing that Ben was obviously waiting for whatever gift was important enough to wake him up in the middle of the night.

"I wasn't sure how to do this," she said as she pulled the box from under her pillow and handed it to Ben. "I thought about getting a string quartet, or a hundred white doves, but Morgan Freedman was unavailable, and skywriting is really expensive, and if I had to wait another night, I would ruin it for sure. I would tell you in my sleep, and that wasn't how I wanted to – I just wanted to tell you while I was conscious."

She perched on her knees as she fidgeted with the hem of her old Harvest Festival t-shirt. Leslie Knope wasn't a nervous person, and the nagging feeling in the pit of her stomach was a new nuisance that she wasn't sure how to deal with. "Open it," she nodded toward the box willing the lump in her throat to go away.

Ben stared at Leslie a second longer, positive that his heart was ready to burst through his chest. "Leslie," he asked, sure that he knew what the box would contain and hoping with everything he had that his prediction was true.

"Just open it," she smiled.

Ben obeyed, carefully prying back the lid. As his mind registered what was in the box, his head spun dizzily, and he could have taken his pulse through his ears. Words kept bounding through his head, but his mind was in no condition to form complete thoughts or sentences and even if it was, his jaw was far too slack to actually construct words. All he knew for sure was the feeling of pure joy that started warm in his chest and was quickly radiating throughout his entire body.

"Well, say something," Leslie pleaded as a small tear escaped from the corner of her eye.

Ben's own eyes became blurry with tears as they were still glued to the contents of the box. The same box he used to tell Leslie to run for city council. The box that had told him to go to Washington. The box that told Leslie he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. The box that was now telling him he was going to be a father.

"It's positive," was all that his trembling voice could manage.

"Yeah," she laughed. "It is."

"You're really…we're really-" Ben still couldn't wrap his head around it.

"Yeah," Leslie repeated as she broke into a giddy giggle. "I'm pregnant. We're going to have a baby."

All Ben could do was break into a big goofy smile as he pulled his wife into his kiss, his head still spinning happily as he thought of the family they were finally starting. "You're pregnant," he said happily in between kisses. "Like I'm going to be a mom and you're going to be a dad."

"Something like that," Leslie laughed through the happy tears that were now steadily streaming down her cheeks.

"We're going to have a baby!" He said happily as he stretched his hand over Leslie's stomach.

Leslie placed her own hand over her husband's. "Yeah," she smiled, her own heart racing with excitement and joy. "We're going to have a baby."

Ben met Leslie with his kiss again and gently pushed her back onto the bed as he hovered above her. He kissed his way across her jaw, the whole time telling her what a great mom she would be and what an amazing child they would have. He stopped when he found her lips, pulling away slightly so that he could look her in the eyes. "I don't care if it's a boy or a girl," he said randomly as he played with one of Leslie's loose curls. "As long as it's healthy, but whatever it is, I hope it's as beautiful, passionate, and kind as you. I love you and like you, Les."

The tears were back in Leslie's eyes, making it hard to see the happiness that was radiating from her husband's face, and even harder for her to say the words that could accurately describe how in love she was with him. Instead, she did the only thing she could. She grabbed him by the shirt, pulling him back into her lips as she simultaneously began pulling it over his head. His hands found the hem of her t-shirt and began to do the same.

They both heard the box fall to the floor with a gentle thud. _Well_, Leslie thought, _I might not be getting any sleep tonight anyway. _Not that she was objecting.

* * *

Before Leslie even opened her eyes, she felt a wave of anxiety run through her at how well rested she felt. She knew without looking at the clock that it was later than Madeline's morning feeding and automatically began worrying about why her daughter hadn't woken up. That was, until she rolled over to find Ben's side of the bed empty. She quietly slipped out of bed and made her way to the spot she could usually find her husband and daughter early in the morning.

Leslie stopped at the entryway to living room and watched her husband's chest rise and fall rhythmically with their daughter snuggled and lying peacefully on top sucking her thumb. She smiled at the way his head fell back slightly on the armrest of the couch, his eyes closed as he breathed in the scent of their three-month old. She couldn't help but chuckle at his disheveled hair sticking up in the same random directions as their daughter's.

At the sound of her laugh, Ben opened his eyes and smiled at his wife. "Good morning," she whispered as she made her way over to her.

"Good morning," he whispered back, his voice husky with exhaustion.

"Happy Father's Day," she said as she kissed him good morning and perched herself on the footrest in front of him.

"Thanks, Les," he grinned as he continued to rub soothing circles on his tiny daughter's back.

"I was going to let you sleep in today," Leslie said as she flattened her daughter's blonde peach fuzz with her hand. "I didn't mean for you to have to wake up with her."

"I wanted to," Ben replied, always desperate to cherish these quiet moments where his daughter would snuggle into his chest and he could just rock her in his arms. "And you needed some sleep."

"Maddie and I have something for you," Leslie announced as she walked over to the plant in the corner of the room and removed the small, worn, red box from behind it.

"You didn't have to get me anything," Ben replied as he sat up carefully so as not to wake his content daughter. "You've already given me the greatest present I ever could have asked for."

"Aww, thanks sweetie," she said as she walked back over to the couch and curled up next to him. "But Maddie and I talked, and we wanted to give you this."

Ben turned the familiar leather box over carefully in his hand before opening it to reveal an old, silver pocket watch.

"It was my dad's," Leslie said explaining the gift.

Ben carefully removed the watch from the box, knowing what a special gift this was. "Les," he said.

"My dad always used to carry it," she continued as her hand played with hem of his t-shirt. "Whenever he'd come home from work, I'd sit with him in the kitchen while he cooked and wind it. One day he told me that every time he missed me, he'd look at his watch because it reminded him of me. So that night, I taped a picture of myself on the inside cover. We decided to change that though," Leslie finished, fighting through the emotions that always came when she brought up her father.

Ben gently turned the watch over in his hand and opened it to find a picture of Maddie placed inside the cover.

"I love it," he whispered, his heart swelling with the love he felt toward his wife and daughter. Leslie rarely talked about her father, but Ben knew how special their relationship had been. He could only imagine how much she cherished the gift in his hands. "Thanks for sharing it with me," he said honestly.

"This year's been really hard without him here," Leslie admitted at barely a whisper as she leaned her head back into his shoulder.

Ben adjusted his sleeping daughter so that he could take his free arm and drape it around his wife's shoulder, pulling her into his chest. "I know it has," he whispered back as he kissed her forehead.

"I just wish that he could be here to meet you and Maddie. I know he'd love you almost as much as I do."

Ben smiled against Leslie's hair. "I can only imagine how proud of you he is. Just think about all the things you've accomplished."

A tear rolled down Leslie's cheek as she quietly wiped it away.

"The Harvest Festival, City Council, the Pit, I mean you're amazing, Les."

"Those things weren't just me though," Leslie countered. "You were there for all those things. Before you came along, the biggest thing I'd ever accomplished was marring those penguins at the zoo, and I mean yeah, that kind of made me a local hero, but it was nothing compared to the things I've been able to do with you on my side. Like that one," she said nodding to their sleeping Madeline. "She never would have happened without you on my team. Happy Father's Day."

"Thanks, Leslie," Ben said as he lips found her's. "I love you, and I like you."

"I love you, and I like you," Leslie smiled back. "Now come on, we're getting breakfast at JJ's. I'm going to need waffles for breakfast if I'm making you calzones for tonight."

Ben smiled at his wife and his tiny daughter in his arms. He couldn't imagine a better life. He happily obliged.

* * *

Without looking at the clock, Ben knew it was 3:17. He also knew that his girlfriend had been asleep for approximately 2 hours and that even though her alarm was set for 5:00, she'd wake up at 4:48 and place a kiss on his chest before crawling out of bed and taking a shower.

He waited patiently as Leslie rolled over in her sleep, winding her arm around his waist and resting her head on his chest as her ice-cold feet found their usual spot on his calf.

Ben also knew that Leslie talked in her sleep. That much was nothing new. The third time he slept over, Leslie carried on a full conversation about the Supreme Court justices at 3:30 in the morning. It was only when she mentioned that Justice Tim Gunn told her he liked her hair that Ben realized she had been asleep the whole time. He learned a lot of things about Leslie from those conversations when her walls were completely down. He knew she wanted two kids, that she was the one who broke his Game of Thrones coffee mug (which was a small price to pay if it meant getting to wake up to her smiling face every morning), and that she had a strange obsession with Joe Biden (he should have seen this one coming. Not many people have a full sized cardboard cutout of the vice president in their family room). Most recently, though, he learned their relationship had a timeline.

Wondering how many nights he had left to watch her like this paralyzed him. He felt it in the pit of his stomach, overwhelming him completely. It radiated through him, sending his heart rate plummeting and his head feeling dizzy, the same way it had two nights ago when he heard her make that speech.

It wasn't as if Leslie hadn't made speeches in her sleep before. Even in the short time they had been dating, Ben had heard presidential, congressional, and even Oscar acceptance speeches slurred against his chest as he gently played with Leslie's hair, but this one was different. As soon as the words, "I'm Leslie Knope, and I'm running for city council," left her mouth, Ben knew. Everything made sense. The ladies yacht club, the way she fell apart when he gave her that éclair, the way she had been trying to distance herself. Leslie was running for city council and their relationship would scandalize her campaign.

"I'm dropping out," Leslie slurred against his side.

Ben's hand stopped moving instinctively as it always did when she began to sleep talk. "I can't break up with Ben."

Ben carefully replaced his hand on her bare shoulder as he tried to make sense of words Leslie was saying. Even if she had said it while she was asleep, Ben had to believe there was some part of her that was willing to drop out of the race if it meant saving their relationship.

"Shut up, Ann," Leslie mumbled. "I'm doing it. I love him."

The words tore at Ben's heart. Leslie Knope who was strong, and brilliant, and driven, and so absolutely purposed to make Pawnee the best place in the world for the people who live here was willing to put all that aside so they could continue to brush hands in the hallway and steal kisses over hidden lunches in Ann's office.

As he watched her wrinkle her brow in frustration, a tear trailed down his cheek, and he knew he couldn't let Leslie quit. He knew he'd never be able to live with himself knowing he was the one who kept Leslie Knope from being Leslie Knope.

He felt Leslie shift in his arms and he fought every urge telling him to just hold her there, to not let her move, to have just a little bit longer to enjoy this. But he didn't. He could smell her lavender shampoo as she ran her hand over his chest. He memorized the feel of her fingertips on his chest and the lines her lips made on his skin as they sent rays of warmth through him. The way she whispered "I love you," as she buried her head into his side for a second longer etched into his brain, and he promised himself he would never forget how beautiful she looked as she perched herself on the edge of the bed, internally fighting the realization she had come to in her sleep.

Ben fought the urge to go to her then. He wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms, to let her know it would be okay, to let her know that he would love her no matter what, but he couldn't. He knew that going to her now would only bring a quicker end, and he couldn't, not yet. He knew he was being selfish, but he had to have just a few more hours with her.

He listened to Leslie sign heavily and felt her weight shift off the bed as she trailed toward the bathroom. Ben waited patiently, still feeling the ghost of his girlfriend in bed next to him until he heard the steady roar of the water from the bathroom.

He slipped quietly out of bed, pulling on a discarded t-shirt as he navigated the darkened room. He fumbled through the dark until his thigh rammed into the corner of Leslie's desk. He felt for the lamp before finally flipping it on. The tiny pool of light illuminated the corner of her room as he rummaged through one of the many drawers she had given him since they started dating. He shifted through the calculators, pens, and papers until his hands hit a hard edge and his fingers could feel the soft leather. He carefully pulled the box from its sanctuary and opened it on his desk as he lowered himself into the chair.

He wasn't sure how long he sat there, staring at the ring that had once belonged to his grandmother. The ring he asked his mom to send him just a few weeks ago. He absentmindedly ran his finger over the diamond feeling embarrassed and boyish at his premature request for a ring when they still couldn't even hold hands in public. But even though they had only been dating for a few months, it was all the time Ben needed to know that eventually that ring would belong to Leslie. It had to.

Leslie's enthusiastic rendition of I Will Remember You brought him out of his daydream. His hands began to dig through his drawer again, this time until he found the small, drawstring, satin bag. He opened it, dumping the contents in his hand. He smoothed his thumb over the round edges. Knope 2012.

He could feel the tearing through his chest again as he carefully removed the ring from the box and put the button in its place. He dropped the ring into the small bag and tucked it safely in the back of the desk. It would still be there after the campaign. And if there was one thing Ben was certain of, it was that Leslie Knope was worth the wait.

* * *

**Thanks so much for reading!**


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